Fifty Years too Late
by E. Tani. Tsarcorp
Summary: Albus Minerva fluff. When Albus finally tells Minerva that he loves her, what will she say. Is he too late?
1. Chapter 1

Fifty Years too Late

Disclaimer: add disclaimer here!

A/n: More fluff. basically plotless, but cute. This was meant to be a one shot, but it got late and im tired so im drawing out a little. Im thinking it will be two chapters, possibly three if im in a bad mood. As always reviews are lovely. Cheers.

Albus paced his office. Rarely in his life had he been so nervous. This was the man who had revolutionised modern magic. The man who, during his NEWTS, had invented an entirely new way of performing charms spells. This was the wizard who felt only pity for what remained of Tom Riddle. There was no one in the world like him. Yes he was the most powerful, the most respected and the wisest, but he was also still only human. Mankind can lose their hearts.

Albus had lost his. Irrevocably.

So he had decided to tell her. His silence was slowly killing him, every day he suppressed his feelings and didn't take her in his arms, he died a little. The candle that had once burned so brightly within his soul was flickering low. Without doing something, anything, it would gutter out and Albus would never be able to forgive himself for not speaking out.

He had prepared himself for her inevitable outcry. There was no possible way that she could love him back. She would want, she deserved, someone so much better than this doddering old fool. Albus was prepared for this eventuality. A love unrequited it bittersweet, but is better than no love at all. He was simply going to tell Minerva that this should, in no way, change the relationship they already shared, and while the idea may take a little getting used to, he was sure they could carry on as before, and his conscious would be clear of this terrible burden he carried alone.

He heard quick brisk steps outside his office and but didn't move to sit. This was not something that could be explained over a desk in the middle of an office. He would simply have to invite her into his sitting room. Minerva would have no objection. They often sat in there to play chess, and the room was always cheerier long after her triumphant laughter had faded.

Minerva appeared in the doorframe, and Albus sighed with content. She grew more beautiful every year, and every time he saw her he was astonished. Her midnight black hair, was as always pulled up into a tight bun (the only time he had ever seen it untied in the last thirty years he had to promptly excuse himself and go and have a cold shower and immerse himself in some obscure muggle text on the medicinal properties of aardvarks.) Ger long delicate fingers unwrapped themselves from her wand and stowed it efficiently into her sleeve, slowly raised her head and looked the headmaster straight in the eye. After staring in silence for a few moments, something she saw there seemed to amuse her, and raising an eyebrow queried

"Difficult day?"

"You could say that," he replied, just as enigmatically.

"I've had one that you would not believe. One of the first years, some relative of the Creevy brothers, like a second cousin's nephew or something. Lord knows two is enough; we'll end up with another clan like the Weasleys. Merlin help up. Oh yes, this boy, managed to turn the remainder of the class into varying levels of platypi. I have no idea how, but it was nevertheless quite and ordeal for everyone involved. I nearly had to swallow my tongue to keep from laughing!"

Albus allowed his mind to wander from the task at hand and laughed uproariously at such a ridiculous class.

"Minerva my dear," he panted in between attacks of hysteria, "you'll really have to find out how he did it, or simply take him along to the next ministry meeting. I'm sure it would cause quite a stir!"

After laughing at such an idea, Minerva quickly regained her composure and asked quietly, "Albus, has something happened to make you want to turn the entirely ministry into one of god' most bizarre creatures?"

"You mean other than the usual" he shot back

"Albus, that goes without saying," she said, eyebrow raised almost to her hairline. From experience she knew that either something quite bad had happened for albus to slander the ministry, even in front of her, or he was hiding something he didn't want her to know. Hiding behind his humour like the way a child hides behind its mother's skirt. Albus had all his defences up, and she would need to bring them down slowly.

Albus sighed. "Minerva, shall we adjourn to the sitting room. I'm afraid I don't like to take tea in my office, and Merlin knows I need a break from all of this" with a swish of his hand he indicated around his office, and audibly groaned. "I'm going to need a ton of lemon drops to even begin to sort through all of this."

"You'll manage, you always do" said Minerva, and taking his arm in hers she led him through into the sitting room, summoning a house elf as she went.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: I'm feeling mean so it's going to be three chapters, will try and update as quickly as possible, probably tomorrow.

A smile played its way around the corners of Minerva's mouth when the house elf Dobby appeared in the headmaster's sitting room. He still had about twenty hats piled on his head and she was quite amazed that he hasn't fallen over. He was like a walking tea cosy commercial, and she thought that she might have to talk to Hermoine about this particular campaign.

"Dobby we'll have a pot of tea, and a selection of biscuits and sweets, our favourites if you have them,"

"Professor McGonagall is very kind, miss, Dobby will bring them up promptly" and with a bang he disappeared.

Minerva sat Albus down in his favourite armchair near the fire and began to knead his shoulders, working all the tension out of the muscles with hands well used to the work. She secretly enjoyed this excuse to touch him, to feel the sinewy muscles beneath the robes, and dream that she could be more to him than his deputy. Albus' thinking was much along the same lines, but slightly less coherent. The combination of Minerva's hands and the alleviation of his tension were too much for him to maintain even one rational thought. When Dobby arrived back with the tea and biscuits it was much more relaxed headmaster who greeted him, asked briefly how he was liking his employment and sent the merry elf on his way.

"So Albus, what is troubling you?" asked Minerva, and sent albus off on a tirade. They talked for several hours arranging how best to deal with things at the ministry, as well as several interschool matters that needed to be sorted out. Albus always found that his best ideas arose when he talked to Minerva. She served as both his inspiration and his sounding board and without her suggestions the world would be in a much messier situation that it currently found itself.

Long after the tea was all gone, and the last sherbet lemon had disappeared, albus sat back in his chair and surveyed the witch sitting across from him. She looked up at him and said, "There is something else you wanted to tell me Albus? I can see it written all over your face, no matter how much you try to hide it."  
"My dear, you see right through me. That is all the business we have today, but I wanted to ask your opinion on a personal matter."  
"Of course Albus, you know that there are no secrets between us. We've been friends for over fifty years now. I'm amazed that you even need to ask. So fire away, whose heart have you stolen this time?"

Albus started and stunned whispered, "you already know?"

"Albus, you have been quite the ladies man, long before I was even born. It has been quite a while and I was beginning to despair of you ever finding the one. I do hope you've picked someone closer to your own age this time though. Honesty Albus, you wont be around forever."

Albus was flustered, there were so many undercurrents in that speech that he had trouble keeping up, and was no longer sure what Minerva was saying, or trying to say. He would simply have to progress as planned and hope for the best. "Once again you're correct," he laughed, with an attempt to lighten the situation, "Only this time I'm sure she's the only one for me. Beautiful, fiercely intelligent, courageous, loyal and she has this amazing ability to see right through me."

"So what's the problem?" Minerva asked softly, dangerously.

"She doesn't know how I feel about her" Albus sighed softly, "and I don't know if I have the courage to speak the words aloud."

Minerva suddenly became stern and business-like. "Well Albus, you owe it to her to tell her how you feel, let alone owing it to yourself. In all the years I've known you I don't think I've ever seen you really happy with a woman. You need someone who is going to be able to compete with you intellectually as well as satisfy you physically. I'm surprised that you've found the complete package and haven't spoken out before now." A dark thought crossed Minerva's mind, "She's not married is she Albus, because in that case I'd advice you to remain deeply secretive about this matter. You have no right to barge into a relationship simply because you have found someone you think you love, despite being the most powerful wizard alive."

Albus covered his face with his hands for a moment, then spoke through them, his voice strangely muffled. "She's not exactly married, although she may as well be for all the chance I have"

"Don't beg for compliments Albus, its not becoming of someone your age" cut in Minerva, "This silliness has gone on long enough Albus, you've always told me not to wallow in self-pity but to be proactive about the situation you find yourself in. If the lady is not otherwise engaged, go to her and tell her how you feel. At least then you'll have an answer to the question you cannot answer by yourself." With that Minerva rose elegantly from her armchair, and left the room, leaving Albus sitting staring into the fire trying to comprehend exactly what she had just said.

Minerva had only reached the corridor just outside Albus' office when she left a hand on her shoulder. Turning slowly to face Albus and looking him straight in his clear blue eyes, she witnessed not the common twinkle, but a flare of naked longing that seemed to suck all the air from her lungs. She managed a whispered, "Albus?" His long fingers rose from his side and pressed themselves against her lips,

"Hush Minerva, there is something I want to tell you." But before he could speak further, she cut in,

"Please don't Albus, please don't say anything. Because if you're going to tell me that its me you want I don't know that I'll have the strength to say no. Believe me Albus when I say that I love you with all my heart, and I have done for nigh on fifty years, but a confession of love from you would just about break my heart." Answering the unspoken confusion she could see in his eyes she ploughed on, "It is a selfish desire, and I never meant to hurt you. I can only hope that your love for me is newfound and fleeting because I cannot...I cannot...I just can't that all."

For Albus this was no kind of answer and he queried, "Minerva, I have loved you for nearly half a century, and you have just told me likewise, what could be more right that fulfilling the long secret desires of our hearts."

"Fifty years Albus, fifty years. Think of all the happy memories we've missed out on because we were both too afraid to speak out. We've been the best of friends since before I can remember and yet we're kept this secret from each other. I can't throw myself into a relationship with you knowing that we could have another fifty years or only another fifty hours. You're not young any more Albus, and neither am I. We both give this outward appearance of infallibility, but there is no telling when either of us could fall. I can't open my heart only to have it broken again before we've made up for all the lost time we could have shared."

Albus looked confused, his brow furrowed deeper than she had ever seen it, "Then you would choose sadness, and loneliness over happiness, love and companionship."

"Do not judge me Albus, I may be a Gryffindor but I was never as brave as you. Besides, I never said I was sad, or lonely, and I will always have your companionship, Albus. That has been enough to sustain me, and it will continue to sustain me in the future"

"Yes my dear, you will always have my friendship." And with that Minerva smiled weakly, bid him goodnight and hurried out of the corridor leaving Albus staring at the spot she had stood, his eyes misty and full of unshed tears.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

a/n: i'm sorry, i know i said it was only going to be three chapters, but it just keeps growing. The story originated out of the ending, so i dont know why ts taking me so long to get there. Just bear with me. The last chapter will DEFINATELY be the last one, i've already started writing it, so it should be up a couple of hours from now, so you wont have long to wait! hehe cheers. Tess

It was December before they managed to talk properly again. The last months had been hell for both. Each had really believed that these new revelations would not really affect their day-to-day relationship, but the easy camaraderie they had shared before that fateful night was gone. Their chess games had continued, but were short and cursory. They were merely time out to deal with their own personal thoughts rather than really talking to the other. Even the staff had noticed the change in the relationship between their headmaster and his deputy. Their easy banter had been replaced by frosty silences and sad glances across the table.

Albus had tried to raise the conversation several times but each time was silenced by a pleading glance and Minerva's pain filled eyes. He hadn't slept properly for months, every night waking up in a cold sweat, and sobbing quietly at finding himself alone again. He had thought of a million reasons he could tell her why they should be together, why even a small time of happiness is better than a lifetime of sadness and regret, but he could not bring himself to tell her when he really had no cure for what she believed so strongly.

For Minerva, every day that she didn't wake up in Albus' arms was like pure torture. To know that he had offered his love and she had pushed him away was almost like tearing her heart out and jumping on it. If she was honest with herself, yes she regretted her decision, but for the first time in her life Minerva was being cowardly, overly protective of her heart. Having kept it cold for so long she was not sure that she could survive loving and losing, as would inevitably happen. Albus was eighty years her senior for god's sake! He could not live forever and she would be left behind, a widow relegated to a cold bed and mourning the love of her life for the remainder of her days. For Minerva, it was better to leave her heart cold than to love and lose.

On the morning of the 18th of December, exactly a week before Christmas, Albus was pacing his study trying to think of something he could give Minerva to show her how much he cared, and that would help to melt the ice cave she had built around her heart. He couldn't help but notice the irony in the fact that his silence for so long had been one off the principal causes of her insular emotions, and now just when he ha spoken out because he thought it would be too late for him, it was already too late for her. Dropping into his chair behind his desk he buried his face in his hands and softly began to weep, salty tears carving tracks down his cheeks and becoming lost in his beard.

A knock on the door interrupted his reverie, and he quickly dies his tears and has grateful that his beard would cover most of the signs of recent crying. Minerva was the only person who was ever allowed to see him cry, but he had a feeling that even his tears would push her further away.

To his relief it wasn't Minerva at the door, but Irma Pince – Hogwarts Librarian. It was not often that she was drawn to the headmaster's office, but he had flooed her and asked her to bring him some light reading. Nothing too heavy but just interesting enough to take his mind off recent events.

"Headmaster, I know you've read this a million times, but I've brought you the charmed automatically updating copy, so you never know what you'll find in here. I hope it's the sort of thing you're after," and placing a copy of "Hogwarts: A History" on his desk, she quietly withdrew from the room, reflecting on the sombre changes in the headmaster.

Albus was grateful for the distraction and opened the book at a random page, quickly skimming the text he had read a million times before, a small smile crept across his face, and he felt that, for the first time in a long time, providence was shining down on him. He had found a gift for Minerva.

a/n: anyone who can see the ending, please shutup about it and dont go ruining it for the others. I know its going to be a little bit cheesy, but hey, i write fluff so who can blame me. You're the one reading it! hehehe! love to all my reviewers.


	4. Fourth and Final Chapter

A/N: **This is the last chapter! Yay for completed works! **

A/n2: This was meant to be a short chapter, but the characters just wouldn't shut-up. I tired to direct them (as the end was set) but they just seemed to have a mind of their own, it's bizarre. So I left them too it. As long as they get there in the end, right?

Every time Albus talked to Minerva during the following week it was with renewed vigour. He never mentioned his plan, or his gift and still only exchanges pleasantries, but to the outsider it seemed as if Albus had suddenly forgotten everything that had been troubling him for the past months. The snide amongst them whispered that Albus has had his heart broken and had now taken a new lover, but this rumour languished when no one could find any evidence of another woman having spend the night in the castle.

Minerva was simply confused, she knew that in time both she and Albus would have overcome this hurdle in their relationship and become close friends again, but she was bewildered that he seemed to have snapped out of it so quickly. After thinking about it for a long time she concluded that Albus' love for her was only so deep, and probably amounted to simply lust. Now that he knew he couldn't have her he had simply accepted his life without her and moved on. In a way she was disappointed, but then pulled herself back together and was thankful that she hadn't given her heart away fully, openly and passionately to a summertime lover, even if he was the only one she had ever really loved.

Albus' gift took a while to prepare. He needed to have a long private conversation with the Gringotts head goblin about opening a vault that he had vowed never to remember that it existed let alone be opened again. This was a special favour, and one that could only be granted to Albus alone.

Upon leaving his appointment Albus had and extra bounce in his step and the twinkle was once again burning bright in his eyes, he could barely contain his excitement and it was all he could do to stop himself from apparating back to Hogwarts and presenting Minerva with his gift. The next week was terrible to bear. Albus alternated between feeling deliriously happy and sinking into melancholy when he imagined all of the ways Minerva could react to what he was about to do. It was one of the longest weeks of his life, desperately wanting to know the answer to the unspoken question this gift would raise, yet unable to answer without her. It was, he thought, like everything else in his life. No question could be properly answered without Minerva.

Christmas morning dawned bright and clear, and Albus was up at first light. He had envisaged many ways to give Minerva her gift, and the one he had decided upon meant waiting until tonight. It was impossible to give it to her in public. This was, after all, a very private affair. It was a tradition amongst the staff staying for Christmas that they would meet in the staff room for brunch and the exchanging of gifts. Upon entering the room, Albus was disappointed not to find Minerva alone. He would have to find some point in the day to invite her to play a game of chess later that night so he could get her alone.

Albus had combed through all the wizarding bookshops he could find (even apparating to France and Russia at various points during the week) to find a gift that he could give to Minerva in this public ceremony and had managed to find one of the oldest and rarest books concerning ancient transfiguration. There were spells in this book that hadn't been performed in centuries. Bewilderingly, Albus had stumbled upon it behind much newer books, and it had cost much less that he willingly would have paid to see the look on Minerva's face when she opened it. Her eyes lit up as she reverently stroked the front cover and she turned to him and threw herself into his arms, holding him tight and saying over and over "Oh Albus, it's simply divine, where on earth did you find it?"

Minerva had bought him a garish pair of sock and had spent a lot of time charming a sherbet lemon to walk and talk. The spell would wear off after a while, but he would get many years out of it, and Minerva was willing to wager that he would become sick of it's inane chatter long before it fell into disrepair. Albus was simply delighted and immediately began teaching the little fellow how to dance across the table.

When all of the gifts had been exchanged, and slowly people had drifted out of the staff room until it was just the two of them left behind. Albus sat on the couch next to Minerva and took her elegant hands in his and looked deeply into her eyes.

"Minerva, please hear me out. There are many things we need to talk about, and Christmas is a time for forgiveness and the New Year is a time for change and growth. I know that our relationship has been somewhat...strained, during the past months, and I would like to try and make it up to you. I have spent a great deal of time trying to come to terms with this change in our relationship, but you are the best friend I have ever had, and I cannot simply throw that away because you cannot love me as I would wish. Lover or not you are still the most important person in my life, Minerva McGonagall, and I hope you will forgive an old fool for taking so long to realise that any sort of relationship with you is better than nothing at all."

Minerva returned his gaze with equal intensity and, as tears filled her eyes, began to speak, "Albus, you are my best friend and the only man I have ever loved, thank-you for understanding and accepting me the way I am."

"The pleasure is all mine, my dear" Albus whispered huskily, and then gathering himself together said, "How about a game of chess tonight, a _proper_ game, Minerva. And don't think just because I've got you back that I'll be going easy on you."

"Go easy on me Albus," she laughed, "You've never done that in your life, and I can still count the number of time's you've beaten me on my fingers."

Albus was nervous, there was no other word to describe it. He and Minerva had just gotten their friendship back on track, what if he was being presumptuous, and this gift ruined it all again. The next time he lost her it might be the last. But he had to chance it. He could not let her slip through his fingers again, only for her to be snapped up by some young bachelor and leave him broken hearted. He had set the room so it was lit only by candlelight, and covered in red and gold Christmas decorations. Admittedly, he had gone a little over the top, but he didn't think she would notice, he seemed to do that in everything in his life. Pacing the room, waiting in earnest, his hand slid into the pocket of his midnight blue robes and felt the small box that contained all his hopes for the future, and a small smile flitted across his aged face.

In her own rooms Minerva was so nervous that she was nearly hysterical. About every five minutes she seriously considered flooing Albus and telling him that something had come up and she couldn't make it, but then she would talk some sense into herself and reason that this was the most significant relationship of her life, and while she was incapable of opening her heart, she should not be afraid to share a deep friendship with Albus, but why was she so nervous. Whenever she thought of his speech that morning she went weak at the knees, there was such an open honesty in his words and his countenance, that made her fall deeper and deeper in love with him. At that moment she had known that Albus' love for her was real, and that he treasured her so much that he was willing to sacrifice his own happiness in order to accommodate her. In the deepest recesses of her mind she knew that if Albus were to offer his love to her again that she could not refuse. Surely nothing required courage so much as love, she was a Gryffindor, and she could was equal to it.

Scant hours later a fist trembled as it knocked upon the door to Albus' sitting room. The door was opened with a smile and then he stood, as if petrified at the sight in front of him. Minerva was wearing not her usual black robes but ones of a deep crimson, which made her skin seem like a bed of pearls. Her hair cascaded down her back in loose ringlets like a fountain of ebony, shimmering and dancing in the candlelight. Albus' breath caught in his chest and he managed to stutter, "Minerva, you look..."

"Beautiful" she suggested, mocking him slightly.

"Ravishing...was more the word I was looking for" Minerva blushed deeply and lowered her head. Albus raised his hand and lifted her chin to look him deeply in his eyes, "You've never blushed at my compliments before," he asked, completely bewildered by this new Minerva,

"It has never before been so heartfelt, Albus. How else am I to react in the face of such emotion?"

Albus knew that if he didn't retract himself from this conversation then he may very well get carried away and forget that until he asked the question again, they were simply friends, although he had the distinct impression that something had changed with Minerva as well. He cleared his throat and tore his gaze away before he fell head over heels into her eyes. "Minerva, how about we have some hot chocolate?"

An hour later Minerva raised her hand in victory, and looked across the table at Albus. It would definitely be remembered as his worst defeat in almost a century. Each time he tried to concentrate the whisper of her robes, or the shimmer of her hair would distract him and he would inadvertently move a piece right into her line of fire. At one point, several moved before checkmate his bishop had snapped at him and told his, in no uncertain terms, and in language quite inappropriate for a man in his position to "Stop ogling the lovely lady and _concentrate_ on the game!" another deep flush had graced Minerva's face, but Albus was unsure of whether it was derived from the bishop's comment, or the fact that he had barely been able to take his eyes off her.

After sitting in companionable silence for a few minutes Albus decided that it was time to present Minerva with his gift. "Minerva, I have another gift for you"

"But Albus, you've already given me a gift that is far more exquisite than I deserve, particularly the way I have acted in recent months."

"Minerva, it is not only your behaviour that has been at fault, but mine also. The gift I wish to give you is something that helped me realise how silly our falling out was, and to appreciate the possibilities of life again. I've already learnt the lesson, and thus, have no further need of the object. I'm giving it to you, in the hope that you might be shown the same revelation." Albus reached into his pocket and removed the meticulously wrapped box, and kneeling in front of her, softly kissed her cheek and whispered, "Merry Christmas, my darling"

Seeing Albus sitting in front of her, like an eager schoolboy she just had to laugh. It really was a comic sight. He may have one and a half centuries under his belt, but Albus Dumbledore had, in many ways, never really grown up. Opening the box her immediate response was one of shock and amazement, she looked at Albus and spoke, her voice dangerously low "Albus, I thought you promised to destroy this so that it could never again cause harm?"

"My dear, you misrepresent me. I merely said that that _particular _stone should be destroyed to avoid further harm, and there are many witnesses to attest to the fact that that stone was destroyed. But _this _stone, Minerva, has never been the cause of harm to anyone. It has, in fact, been kept in a locked vault in Gringotts, with strict instructions that only three people would be able to enter the vault, and that the contents should be destroyed with the passing of all three. Of course, the three people were Nicholas Flamel, his wife, and myself. Had I remembered at the time, this stone would have certainly been destroyed along with the other, but it seems that memory loss is sometimes beneficial." Peering intently at Minerva, and taking her hands in his for the second time that day, Albus' voice became suddenly serious, "My love, I may be eighty years your senior, but a fear of me dying before you has suddenly become irrational. If there is one thing I know for certain about you, is that you have _never _succumbed to irrational fears. I love you, Minerva McGonagall. You are my reason for living. Merlin, you are _all_ my reasons."

"Albus," whispered Minerva, her voice heavy with ill-concealed passion, "I also have a gift for you, close your eyes and I shall give it to you," One of Minerva's warm hands was removed from his own, and Albus imagined her fumbling in her robes for a box. Instead he felt her hand cup his chin, her thumb softly stroking his cheek, and her soft lips brush against his own, and her soft moan at the contact. All at once it was as if all the blood rushed to his head and he pulled her to him and captured her lips in another kiss. It was Minerva who first opened her mouth and nibbled his bottom lip, seeking, needing to deepen the kiss, and Albus was suddenly aware of how much passion was concealed beneath her stern façade. This kiss was the accumulation of fifty years of pent up love and longing, and each felt a fire consuming them and making them whole.

Minerva pulled her head away and loosened the collar of Albus robes and started placing soft kisses along his collarbone and neck. "Oh Minerva," he moaned, "I could definitely get used to this,"

"Well then, get used to it" she whispered huskily, taking his hand and pulling him towards the bedroom, "we've got all the time in the world."

The End

A/n: aww, a happy ending. Please review, and then I may get more little happy plot bunnies like this one! Cheers, Tess.


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